Have you ever seen a homeless dog and just wanted to take it home with you?

How could someone do such a thing?

In the United States, nearly 62% of Americans have a pet and more than 70 billion dogs and cats are left homeless. Only around 6 to 8 million animals enter shelters each year out of these 70 million. These shelters are maxed out with dogs and are trying to function with limited space and funds. So many pets are looking for loving homes and yet only around 20% of Americans adopt their dogs from shelters. The other 74% is coming from breeders. Shelters are so packed with dogs that you can find any breed of animal, mixed or pure bred, in your local shelter. With that being said, Americans pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for dogs from a breeder. Consumers are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money for a pure bred dog because they are told the puppy has been raised in a loving environment and that it will grow up to have fewer health problems. However there is really no way to tell because health is dependent on the individual dog. Many breeders try to avoid inbreeding, which often leads to significant health issues. There is no guarantee that these animals won’t suffer from behavioral or health problems now or in the future.

This is Leo, an 8-week-old Airedale Terrier. During the summer my cousins decided to get their first dog. They had never had any previous experience owning a puppy and they decided to buy their dog from a breeder. My family wasn’t pleased with the fact that they were using a breeder when so many good dogs need homes. They finally brought Leo home when he was around 8 weeks old, which is normally when the breeder sells them. Two days later they heard Leo crying in his cage. When they went to see what the problem was they noticed Leo was not breathing. They were in shock because they had only had him for two days and it is not common for a puppy to just stop breathing. Leo ended up dying from an abnormality in his heart. This is an example of how breeding dogs can result in the dog having serious health problems.

Most of the time buyers don’t do their research before buying their new member of the family. As a result, some end up buying their dogs from cruel puppy mills. Most of the time even certified breeders subject their dogs to mill-like conditions. A lot of puppies who come from puppy mills, end up suffering from serious health problems due to reckless breeding practices. The New York Times did a story on a woman who purchased her puppy from an AKC breeder. Later, she discovered the puppy had suffered many abnormalities as a result of reckless breeding. Two months later the facility was raided and the dogs were moved to a safer location. Most breeding is cruel and abusive and because of that the puppies are left with serious health issues. It’s the same thing as drinking when you’re pregnant. As a result your newborn child is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which causes them to have serious birth defects. You have to live with the fact that you are the one responsible for it. Breeders know that what they are doing is wrong and that the outcome is producing a dog with serious abnormalities. It’s our civic duty to help save these innocent animals.